The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7204 p895-899
29 June 2002

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Regulation leads to public benefit, NPA tells the OFT's pharmacy inquiry

The National Pharmaceutical Association (NPA) has told the Office of Fair Trading that National Health Service regulations provide a major public benefit by ensuring that consumers enjoy ready and easy access to a full NHS pharmaceutical service.

In a submission to the OFT, the NPA supports the current rules which, it says, provide Government with a tried and tested mechanism for delivering a rationally distributed pharmacy service.

NPA chief executive John D'Arcy commented: "As part of its stated objective to deliver the targets of the NHS plan, the Government is seeking to make greater use of the skills and expertise of community pharmacists. A core component of this is the community pharmacy network, which not only delivers ready access, but also a platform from which to launch a range of 'added-value' services. Its importance in enhancing pharmacy's contribution to primary and secondary care and its potential in assisting the Government's delivery of policies and targets is indisputable".

The submission said: "Community pharmacy is an environment where a market free-for-all will not provide pharmacy's consumers with the best deal. Pharmacists' principal focus is the provision of pharmaceutical services within the totality of NHS health care. Health care provision, and within this the NHS pharmaceutical service, has to be planned and managed to ensure best use is made of limited resources and that care is available to those in need at a time and place of their choosing. The free market cannot be relied upon to ensure this. Nor is it the best way for ensuring a consistent NHS pharmaceutical service."

It added that regulation had benefited consumers through encouraging a more rational distribution of pharmacies and improving the range of products and breadth of services available from pharmacies. The relative stability afforded by regulation had given pharmacists confidence to develop services and enhance the range of products they offered. This had been particularly so in recent years.

The NPA also drew attention to uncertainty over the forthcoming new NHS pharmacy contract and pilots of local pharmaceutical services schemes. This, it said, meant that it was not appropriate to relax pharmacy regulations now. Without the regulations, pharmacy openings would be based on commercial imperative, rather than patient need. Pharmacies would become clustered around GP surgeries and pharmacies more remote from surgeries would see their business decline. The result would be a shift from even pharmacy distribution to locations were there were too many, or too few.

The OFT started its pharmacy market inquiry last December and expects it to take nine months.